The Best Lobster Rolls in (and Around) Boston

By Eric Twardzik
06/06/2023
CUSSER'S | The Best Lobster Rolls in Boston
Cusser's

Like the lobster-teeming shores of historic Massachusetts, this seafood delicacy abounds on Boston restaurant menus. How do you know which lobster rolls are worth today’s expense? Check out this guide to find the best lobster rolls in Boston.

SALTIE GIRL Boston

How good is the lobster roll at Saltie Girl? Good enough to be the must-order on a seafood-loaded menu that also includes dressed-up crudo, fried Ipswich Clams, tinned fish delicacies, and a famed plate of Fried Lobster & Waffles. The take on the seafood shack classic at this Back Bay bar and patio is called the Gloucester Lobster Roll, and it over-fills a split-top bun with chunks of lobster meat. Choose yours to come warm and generously buttered or cold with creamy mayo. House-made salt and vinegar potato chips served on the side provide a savory, crunchy contrast to the main attraction.

Neptune Oyster lobster rolls

Iconic North End restaurant Neptune Oyster serves what might be Boston’s most famous lobster roll—and that means scoring one and a seat in the diminutive,  marble-filled oyster bar often means spending hours in line. It’s certainly hyped up, but this great lobster roll is completely worth it: Your patience will be rewarded with heaps of chunky meat on a grilled brioche bun, served either cold with mayo or warm with butter. Pro tip: Try visiting Neptune Oyster on a weekday afternoon, or arriving prior to opening on a weekend, to avoid the primetime wait.

Nightshade Noodle Bar

Nightshade Noodle Bar

It’s well worth the short drive or train ride up to Lynn for a lobster-roll lunch at Nightshade Noodle Bar. Available on the summer-seasonal, lunchtime-only Nightshade Clam Shack menu, the Lemongrass Lobster Roll effectively ends the mayo-or-butter lobster roll debate with a rich and fragrant sauce that mixes eggy aioli, European butter, and bright lemongrass with plump lobster meat pieces. Served in a cushy toasted brioche bun with a side of shrimp chips, Nightshade’s lobster roll is a unique and crave-worthy riff on the beachy summer takeout staple—and conveniently, the takeout-friendly restaurant is just a short jaunt from a picnic on Nahant Bay.

Row 34 lobster roll
Credit: Chris McIntosh

Though it’s best known as an oyster palace with airy, industrial-chic digs in Fort Point, Cambridge, Burlington, and Portsmouth, N.H., Row 34 also offers excellent lobster rolls at all locations. Ethel’s Creamy Lobster Roll is named for chef Jeremy Sewall’s grandmother, who added a hint of zesty pickles to the mix of her cold-mayo lobster roll. (It’s such a staple dish that it’s included in The Food Lens’ cookbook, Dining in Boston.) The Warm Buttered Lobster Roll is also a catch, filled with freshly steamed meat and luscious melted butter. Each is served on a traditional split-top bun that’s been grilled in butter—because that’s what Grandma would do.

Eventide Fenway

lobster roll at Eventide Fenway
Credit: Chris McIntosh

There’s a lot that sets apart the lobster roll at Eventide Fenway from other local lobster rolls. First of all, it originated in Portland, Maine, at Eventide Oyster Co. Then there are the savory chives and, of course, the nutty brown butter sauce that coats the succulent seafood. But the main attraction about this famous food is the bao-style bun in which it is served, steamed to fluffy softness rather than griddled, New England-style crispness. Boston’s version even has something on the original: You can order a larger Eventide Brown Butter Lobster Roll at the Fenway location compared with the small-plate version in Maine.

Lobster roll from B&G oysters

A take on classic New England raw bars and seafood shacks, B&G Oysters definitely deals in namesake bivalves, but a lobster roll is also front and center. And it is an ideal version: Imagine Maine lobster, lightly dressed with lemon mayo and celery, generously piled into a toasted hot dog bun and finished with a sprinkling of chives. For something a little unconventional, the Lobster BLT is exactly what it sounds like (and uses really good bacon). As if you need more of a reason to visit this South End stunner, B&G’s backyard patio is one of the city’s most idyllic outdoor dining spots.

One of The Best Lobster Rolls in Boston from Cussers

A fine-dining restaurant group’s take on a North Shore-style snack shack, Cusser’s elevates fried seafood, rolls, and roast beef sandwiches (if you know, you know). At locations in the Back Bay and Time Out Market, Lobster Rolls are distinguished by well-seasoned sauces: herby tarragon mayo or sultry red wine butter. The golden brown, split-top roll leaves your fingers deliciously glistening with butter. Order to-go, or dine in at the Back Bay bar to sample exciting, experimental cocktails by bartender Todd Maul, who’s at Cusser’s every Wednesday through Saturday night.

James Hook & Co.

James Hook lobster roll | Where to Eat and Drink in Downtown Boston
Photo credit: James Hook & Co.

A Boston landmark since 1925, family-owned fishing company James Hook has a takeout restaurant with a relaxing patio amid the office towers of the Financial District and the Seaport. Stay outside and skip the typical line of folks inside the seafood shop by ordering directly from the on-site food truck, where you can get cold lobster rolls in two sizes. Regular and large are both packed with super-fresh seafood and no other filler: When the lobster is this fresh and flavorful, it doesn’t need any additions. Make it a meal with creamy chowder, cold beer, and more. The retail store offers more takeout options, as well as daily catch to bring home—including a tank of lively lobsters awaiting their fate.

Dive Bar

one of the Best Lobster Rolls in Boston from Dive Bar

The oyster bar inside downtown Boston’s food hall High Street Place takes inspo from the Gulf Coast as well as the Atlantic shoreline, with a Shrimp Po’boy on the menu along with Lobster Rolls both hot and cold. We’re concerned with the latter at the moment—and you should be, too: Chef Tiffani Faison’s lobster rolls at Dive Bar are a couple of instant classics. Both served on thick, buttery, griddled brioche rolls, the hot lobster roll features a rich and savory lobster-enhanced brown butter; and the cold version here has just the right crunch from diced celery and a delicious lemon-chive mayo.

Updated by Jacqueline Cain

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